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1936 Individual Speedway World Championship

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The 1936 Speedway World Final programme.

The 1936 Individual Speedway World Championship was the first ever Speedway World Championship and was won by Lionel Van Praag of Australia. The forerunner to the World Championship was generally regarded to be the Star Riders' Championship.[1][2][3] The final was held at London's Wembley Stadium in front of 74,000. It was the first of a record 26 times that Wembley would host the World Final with the last being in 1981.[4]

Summary

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The World Championship would consist of qualifying heats and then a Championship round, where points would be carried forward to the final to determine the winner. One of the favourites Jack Parker had a broken hand injury and was unable to compete in the final.[5] Joe Abbott was also unable to line up for the final due to injury, despite qualifying for the final. They were replaced by Arthur Atkinson and Bill Pitcher.[3][6]

Despite being unbeaten in the Final, Australian Bluey Wilkinson only finished third as the Championship was decided by bonus points accumulated in previous rounds plus the score from the final. Van Praag defeated England's Eric Langton in a runoff to be declared the inaugural Speedway World Champion.[7][8][9]

As they lined up at the tapes for the runoff, Langton broke them which would ordinarily lead to disqualification. However, Van Praag stated he did not want to win the title by default and insisted that a race should take place. At the restart Langton made it to the first bend in front and led until the final bend on the last lap when Van Praag darted through the smallest of gaps to win by less than wheel length.[10]

Afterwards, controversial allegations were abound that the two riders had 'fixed' the match race, deciding between them that the first person to the first bend would win the race and the Championship and split the prize money; Langton led into the first bend but was overtaken by Van Praag.[10] Van Praag reportedly paid Langton £50 "conscience money" after the race for going back on the agreement.[10]

In the Championship round the top 16 riders over 7 rounds would qualify for the World final. Ron Johnson and Bill Pitcher qualified as first reserves.[11]

Qualifying round

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  • Top 28 riders qualify for Championship round
Date Venue Winner
26 May West Ham Stadium Jack Parker
30 May Hyde Road Bluey Wilkinson
6 June Harringay Stadium Frank Charles
19 June Hackney Wick Stadium Arthur Atkinson & Jack Ormston
20 June Wimbledon Stadium Fred Tate
25 June Wembley Stadium Ron Johnson
1 July New Cross Stadium Joe Abbott

Championship round

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  • The top 16 riders over the 7 qualifying rounds and 7 championship rounds would qualify for the World final.
Date Venue Winner
11 July Harringay Stadium Jack Parker
14 July West Ham Stadium Eric Langton
23 July Wembley Stadium Lionel Van Praag
29 July New Cross Stadium George Newton
8 August Hyde Road Eric Langton
10 August Wimbledon Stadium Lionel Van Praag
14 August Hackney Wick Stadium Frank Charles

Qualifying points (top 16 qualify, 2 reserves)

World final

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Pos. Rider c/f Final Points Final Heats Total Points
1 Australia Lionel Van Praag 12 14 (3,3,3,2,3) 26+3
2 England Eric Langton 13 13 (3,3,3,2,2) 26+2
3 Australia Bluey Wilkinson 10 15 (3,3,3,3,3) 25
4 United States Cordy Milne 9 11 (2,2,1,3,3) 20
5 England Frank Charles 12 8 (3,3,0,2,0) 20
6 Australia Dicky Case 9 8 (2,0,3,1,2) 17
7 England Jack Ormston 9 8 (1,1,2,3,1) 17
8 Australia Vic Huxley 10 7 (1,2,0,2,2) 17
9 England George Newton 12 4 (0,0,3,1,0) 16
10 United States Jack Milne 9 6 (1,2,1,0,2) 15
11 Denmark Morian Hansen 10 5 (2,1,2,0,0) 15
12 England Bob Harrison 10 5 (0,0,2,0,3) 15
13 England Wal Phillips 7 5 (1,1,0,2,1) 12
14 England Jack Parker 12 - - 12
15 England Ginger Lees 7 4 (2,0,1,0,1) 11
16 England Arthur Atkinson 6 3 (0,2,1,0,0) 9
17 England Bill Pitcher 6 2 (0,1,X/-,0,1) 8
18 England Norman Parker (res) 6 1 (1) 7
19 England Joe Abbott 7 - - 7

Podium

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  1. Gold Australia Lionel Van Praag
  2. Silver England Eric Langton
  3. Bronze Australia Bluey Wilkinson

References

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  1. ^ Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. pp. 20–21. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
  2. ^ "World Championship 1936-1994". Edinburgh Speedway. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  3. ^ a b Oakes, Peter (1990). Speedway Yearbook 1990. Front Page Books. p. 13. ISBN 0-948882-15-8.
  4. ^ "WORLD FINALS 1936-1994" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  5. ^ "World Speedway Championship". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 7 September 1936. Retrieved 22 April 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ^ "World Speedway Championship". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 11 September 1936. Retrieved 22 April 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ^ "HISTORY SPEEDWAY and LONGTRACK". Speedway.org. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  8. ^ "WORLD INDIVIDUAL FINAL - RIDER INDEX". British Speedway. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  9. ^ "Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  10. ^ a b c Chaplin, John (1990) Speedway Special, ISBN 0-9515857-0-3, p. 109–114
  11. ^ "New Era in Speedway". Daily News (London). 19 March 1936. Retrieved 30 December 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
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